Tumbling After
by AC Phoenix
Summary: When Elise tries to run away from her "obnoxious" neighbor, she finds herself stumbling into her Auntie's wardrobe. Little does she know what else she stumbles upon...
1. For Elise

Hullo. The first chapter might be a little boring, but a story has to start somewhere, right?

I do not own Narnia.

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CHAPTER ONE: **For Elise found The Golden Hills**

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I blew into my freshly made hot chocolate before taking a sip of it, careful not to burn my tongue. Auntie always did make the best hot chocolate when it was close to winter, and whenever I had caught a cold she would be sure to put in extra mini marshmallows. When I was younger, I would always pretend to catch a cold, just to get some extra marshmallows (and Auntie always did know that I was faking it). I didn't care that I wouldn't be able to go outside and play in the leaves or snow – I hated cold weather with a bloody passion and tried making excuses so I wouldn't have to play with the kids in the neighborhood. It wasn't until I turned twelve that I decided to stop pretending, and simply curl at the end of the couch while I listened to the fire crackle in the fireplace, just where I was sitting at this very minute.

It's not that I hated them or anything, I hardly knew them. It's just that it was always cold whenever I ended up staying here (the effects of my parents going overseas and me not owning a passport yet). Back at home I loved climbing up trees or tall hills, and would probably end up getting really dirty. The only thing stopping me now is the cold weather – something I have yet to conquer.

Once I was done with the hot chocolate (for the time being) I swamped back into my book. It was a copy of Narnia, a book series I seemed to find very interesting, my only disappointment in the first book was that Polly never did marry Digory in The Magician's Nephew. But then again, Digory was a bit reckless, and it would seem fit that she became his housekeeper in the second book. My other copies laid not too far from my reach, just so when I finished re-reading the first book, I could go on to the second where I looked forward to reading about the Pevensie children. I only found it ironic that my aunt owned a wardrobe, rather than a simple closet. But it wasn't anything like Lucy had described. My aunt's was old and battered.

"Elise dear?"

A smile spread across my face as I heard my aunt call me and I eagerly looked up. The warm smile dropped into a cold frown as I saw the boy standing next to her: he was around my age, and nonetheless seemed to tower over my aunt. His hair was fair and unkempt, as were his baggy clothes. He flashed a rugged grin and I rolled my eyes, knowing that someone had put him up to this (a bet, no doubt). My aunt probably assumed that I was just going through some sort of phase of being shy towards guys, but I just really hated Gregory Grant. He was cocky, irresponsible and a menace.

"Well, I'll just go and see how those cookies are doing…" Auntie said. Once she left, I shot a glare towards Greg.

"What do you want?" I spat. He shrugged my hostility and invited himself to sit down on the other end of the loveseat. I curled my body closer towards my end, bringing my books closer to close off the gap I had towards them. It was a weak shield, but it was better than nothing.

"What's with all the books? Wouldn't you rather just be outside in the snow, El?"

"For the hundredth time, it's _Elise_. Not El. Not Eli. Not Lise."

"But Elise is so _boring_. El and Eli are cuter." He scooted closer towards my book shield but I still buried myself into my corner. He chuckled as I tried to shove him away from me, but I was too delicate to even make any attempt of forcing him away. It would be futile if I tried to make scum remarks; first off, my aunt would hear, and second, it was like he was immune to getting offended or injured.

"Greg!" I whined.

A few wolf whistles behind him caught me off guard, forcing me to fall off the love seat with Greg collapsing over me (as well as my books). "Fancy meeting you down here."

"Get off of me!" I bellowed.

With all my might I curled a fist and shot a punch on his cheek; it didn't hurt him, but at least it caused him to tilt backwards in shock. I rapidly grabbed my blanket, shoving my books within it, closed it into a bundle and ran off into a room. I sighed, sliding my back against the door as I hugged the bundle of books. My eyebrows were narrowed, as I could practically imagine the expressions of Greg's friends, like a pack of hyenas. I shook my head furiously, trying to rid of my thoughts and come back to my reality. It took me a while to realize that I had been in the study: the room where the batted wardrobe was. There was other nonsense like boxes with miscellaneous antiques, warn bookcases, globe, and an outdated desk that reminded me of the early 1900's.

To my horror, I heard three pairs of footsteps closing in towards the room, but my body relaxed once I heard them pass. I realized that they probably wouldn't leave for a while, so that meant I had to hide. It was silly, really, but I didn't want to face them after being humiliated in front of _his_ friends. I panicked again once I heard one of the voices suggest splitting up.

I pulled myself up from the floor, and darted for the wardrobe, but as I started, my books already started to spill out from the open space. I started to pick them up, but once I heard the doorknob turn, I dumped all of the books, only carrying my blanket as I practically jumped into the wardrobe. I went as far as the wardrobe would let me, but I found it odd that I had yet to find the end of it. Could a wardrobe really hold that much?

"Elise?"

I yelped once I felt a batch of tiny sharp objects tickle my back. The wardrobe doors swung open, but I couldn't see who had opened it. And I didn't plan on it, so I did the only thing I could do: go deeper in the wardrobe… or get out of the wardrobe (whichever seemed to work).

I turned around, then, saw what had poked me: the branch of a pine tree. No doubt there was a scrape on my lower back, so I decided to wrap myself around with the blanket to make sure there were as little scrapes as possible. That plan seemed to flaw as I tripped on a pinecone and dive head first through the golden-grassed hill. I yelped again once my head hit against the bark of the tree, knocking me out cold.

* * *

I could have been knocked out for hours for all I knew, but I didn't care. I felt like I was resting on cloud nine with the wonderful smell of cinnamon ticking the end of my nose, and all it needed was the flavorful scent of vanilla ice cream to go with it. I wish I could lie here all day, but I knew that I had to get up eventually. I groaned as I tried desperately to open my eyes, but I wish I hadn't. My eyes stared weakly towards Greg. He was cradling me in his arms, keeping my blanket nuzzled against me. How I had ended up under a tree with the world's most obnoxious jerk, I would never know.

"Finally! What the heck happened to you? You're scraped everywhere."

I sighed. "I get it, I look awful."

"Actually, it makes you look very sexy."

I felt the blood rush up to my cheeks and narrowed my eyes, mentally swearing to myself as he barked with laughter. Why the hell did I think that I was resting against cloud nine? He was the most arrogant guy I had ever met, so why did he make me feel nervous all of a sudden?

"By the way, do you have any idea where we are?"

"Yeah, sure. I get lost in wardrobes all of the time!" I retorted sarcastically.

He sighed. "Okay, okay. Sheesh. What do you have against me anyways?"

"Okay, how about we start at the day by the lake?"

He grinned sheepishly. "Oh come on, you have to admit it was pretty hilarious."

"Suuure. Nearly drowning is pretty damn hilarious."

He made a face as if she had just hit him in gut. "Okay, I forgot about that part… but enough about that. We've got to get out of here."

"We haven't even found out where _here_ is!" I complained.

"Look, you're scraped everywhere and you've been out for a while, so we _have_ to go back."

"_You_ can go back. I'm staying to find out what this place is, besides, I don't want my aunt to see me like this! I'm a mess."

He sighed. "What is it with girls and the way they look?"

"What is it with guys not caring about _anything_?"

The both of us stared at one another for a long while, not wanting to give up on each of our debates. Why couldn't Greg see that this world was incredible? There were clearly plenty of places to go and discover, but all _he_ wanted to do was go home. I finally broke my eyes and gazed at our surroundings: The hills around here were tall and beautiful (and no doubt on the top of one of these trenches was the wardrobe), almost giving the appearance of a valley. I looked back towards Greg, giving him a glass eye covered expression. "Please?" I whispered. Even though I despised him, he was five times stronger than I was and he'd probably carry me home if he had to. So it was either be dragged home, or beg to stay.

He stiffened at my sudden change of attitude, but I knew it was working. I cuddled closer to him, whispering again, like a little child to her father to get her a pony. "_Please_?"

"...But your aunt will be worried."

That was true, but she knew that I was responsible enough to call if I had gone out late. Besides, whenever my curiosity kicked in, it ruled over my responsibility every time. I was practically screaming at myself as I rested my head against his chest, "Please? Just for a little bit?"

His expression looked like it was about to crack at any second. Yes, I was desperate enough to flirt with the person that made my stomach churn whenever I saw his face. And the way he kept squirming as I begged was his just desserts for making myself look stupid in countless occasions. I grinned the second I saw his face fall into a sigh of defeat and I quickly leaped out of his arms with joy. As I imagined myself dancing (I would be mortified if I did my "happy dance" in front of him) he came up from behind me, placing an arm around both of my shoulders as he leaned towards my ear.

"But just for a minute. Then we get the hell out of here."

"Sure, sure." I said absent-mindedly. I felt like I usually did when Auntie gave me extra marshmallows to my hot chocolate, which reminded me of the one that was at home (and was probably cold by now). But this was much better, but it would have been nice if I was actually wearing better clothes (my baby blue pajamas weren't exactly the best material to be wearing during hiking).

"Sure, sure." A voice repeated.

I looked back towards him with a glare, but he raised his hands up in defense. "That wasn't me."

* * *

I honestly think it's kind of cheesy, but then again, the writer is their worst critique. Let me know if its any good.


	2. Mr Gopher

Well, here's Chapter Two. I hope it's a little more interesting than the last chapter…

I do not own Narnia.

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Chapter Two: **Mr. Gopher and the News**

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I blinked, then, exchanged a glance with Greg who had been as baffled as I was. Surly I hadn't lost my mind, and neither did Greg since he had also heard the southern accented voice. We decided to take the voice's suggestion and started looking around the golden-colored grass. Directly in front of us was a copper-brown trail of dirt – the line was so perfect that I thought I could probably walk on top of it and not fall, but it wouldn't be such a good idea. At the front of us stood an impatient gopher that appeared halfway out of the hole.

A gopher? Talking? I looked back to Greg to make sure I hadn't been loosing my head, but he had been just as confused as I had been. But then again, how many kids fall out of the back of a wardrobe every now and then?

"You kids lost?"

"I guess you could say that..." I said. Greg and I really had no idea where we were, and it would seem logical for a gopher to know where it was going, but Greg was starting to get second thoughts. He grabbed part of my blanket that wrapped around me, but the blanket really had no purpose other than the fact that it was soaking in my blood. Since I hadn't passed out from blood loss, it couldn't be too bad, right?

"Have you lost your mind? There's no way I'm following a _gopher_." He hissed.

"Well do _you_ have any bright ideas? He seems nice enough."

"Are you even listening to yourself? Gophers shouldn't even be talking! They dig and eat dirt."

I looked back towards the gopher for a minute. He was getting impatient, but not as impatient as Greg had. It was driving me nuts, but then again, I wasn't one to talk. I wondered how many times I had made him mad because I didn't like the cold and wouldn't even think about going outside.

"Well Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore. And I seem to recall that you don't go into a new dimension – or whatever this is – by falling into a wardrobe."

He sighed.

"This'll only take a minute. Honest." I assured him. By the look of his expression, he wasn't convinced. As we walked back towards the beaver, I heard him muttering something about nothing ever taking a minute, but I shrugged it off.

"Excuse me … um… Mr. Gopher?"

He blurted out laughing, but then he settled down as he realized that we hadn't been laughing with him. "Oh, you were serious? No one's called me Mr. Gofer since… since… well actually no one's ever bothered putting a 'Mister' in front of Gopher. I'm the only one around here, so there's no point, really. But yeah, you're lost right?"

I nodded.

"Well, you two 're in the Golden Hills. There's been new additions to Narnia since the last war."

My jaw dropped in disbelief. I was starting to wonder if I had been going insane. "Did you say Narnia?"

"Yeah, well, what other place is there better 'n Narnia? And if I recall… you two must be human. Not that many of them are around here, actually, everyone's been buggin' out because they think the humans have been extinct. Buncha loonies if you ask me. If you don' have any real proof, then, well there's no point in rumors is there?"

I nodded, agreeing completely. "Wait… you said you were the only gopher around here. Why is that?"

He chuckled. "The other gophers are too scared to go 'round here, but this is were they have the best soil."

Greg raised a brow with suspicion. "Too scared? Of what?"

The gopher shrugged. "Meh. They say that the Serpent King roams around here, but I've never seen 'im. You'd think all gophers would have a good sense of direction, but the Serpent King lives in the South Borders, not north. Nutty neighbors…"

He looked up to the sky and gaped. "Blimy! Is that the time? I'm gonna be late for lunch! Sorry kids. Gotta run… well… dig actually."

Before I could say "bye" he ducked his head under the hole and crawled through his tunnel. Once the gopher's digging was out of sight, Greg stood in front of me.

"All right, you've had your fun. Let's go home."

I sighed. "Fine…"

* * *

We weren't really that far from the wardrobe, but it took us longer to climb up the hill (mostly because I hadn't been use to climbing unless it was one of those rock-climbing walls that were usually at fairs), but when we were back in the study, everything seemed to be where we left it. None of my books had been picked up and what baffled me the most was that Greg's friends were still looking for us. As he walked out of the study, I shut the wardrobe doors and started to pick up my untouched paperbacks. His friends looked towards me with puzzled expressions.

"What'd you do, climb a tree?"

"Worse, fell down a hill." I grumbled.

They exchanged glances, much like how Greg and I had when we thought we had gone "loonie."

"She's kidding. I found her hiding on the roof and she fell down." Greg said quickly.

They shrugged. "So we're still going to the bridge tomorrow, right?"

Greg nodded, then looked towards me. I blinked, but then I realized why he had even came to the house in the first place. I opened my mouth to say "no", but stopped. I had just manipulated him to explore (to use the gopher's term) Narnia, and even though it hadn't been very long (and I had no idea how right I was), I still owed him that much.

"Can I come?"

"Sure." Greg said enthusiastically. He ignored the shocked expressions of his two friends as he told me the time they were meeting. Once the plan was set, the three left the study and headed out towards the door.

When they had finally left the house, I walked towards the guest room I had been sleeping in, but Auntie personalized it just for me by adding a bookshelf (she knew how much I loved to read by the fire). I placed the books on an empty space, and made my way towards the kitchen. I was surprised to see that my aunt wasn't there, but was a little relieved when I saw her note on the refrigerator. She had gone out to the market for some shopping, which wouldn't take that long, but it would be long enough for me to clean up my pajamas and wounds.

Auntie hadn't been too surprised when she saw me in different pajamas and band-aids all over me. Apparently, Greg had found her in an isle and explained what had happened to me (the same way he had explained to his friends) so I went along with it, acting like I was angry at him (even though I was actually very grateful. I owed him big time).

"Greg says he's sorry."

"Yeah? Well 'sorry' doesn't heal wounds." I grumbled. If I had started acting nice all of a sudden, no doubt my Auntie would have been suspicious, so I had to go along with it.

"Didn't he say he was going to take you to the bridge?"

I stopped, trying to make a way that would give me reason to go to the bridge. "I saw a new book at the bookstore… said that I might see him around because the bridge leads to that part of town." Then I shrugged. "Maybe he was being delirious. You know how boys are."

Auntie giggled at my stubbornness. She found it cute that I didn't even consider having any sort of attraction towards boys, but on the contrary, I did. I just never told anyone about it because I thought it was weird talking about guys all day. The only person I ever talked to about advice was my sister (who my parents had been visiting in Alaska. I would have gone myself, but I can't stand the cold, which was why Auntie's house was the next best thing).

"Well, it's getting late. Good night Aunt Meg."

"It's Auntie, dear."

I nodded with a chuckle, giving her a kiss on the cheek as I headed towards my personalized guest room.

The next morning, I woke up early with the smell of maple syrup flowing inside my nose, causing my mouth to water. Auntie had made blueberry waffles with a pancake mix, which seemed simple enough to not screw up. But Auntie almost always got it right. After all, no one could be_ that_ perfect, right?

Instead of immediately going towards the table, I remembered that I was suppose to go to the bridge today, and if I hadn't dressed now it would have taken me forever to get ready. I gazed out in the sky, glad to see that the sun was in view, but it threatened to hide behind one of the clouds at any minute. I rushed towards my dresser, pulling out a long jean skirt, white tights and a white turtleneck. Lastly, I pulled out a brown wool sweater (on the front of the sweater two large poms dangled from string; on the back was a hood).

When I was convinced I was decent enough, I slipped on some high-heeled boots that match with my sweater and walked towards the kitchen. She gave a warm smile as she placed my plate onto the table and went back towards the stove to take her pot and clean it.

"Your mom called last night and she said she had good news."

I bit into the small piece of waffle that hung on the fork. "Oh?" I asked curiously.

"She said that the flight has been canceled due to a blizzard. Your sister decided to go back home once the storm's passed."

For some reason, I wasn't catching on. "So…?"

"You're going home in two days, isn't that wonderful?"

I nearly yelled, but forgot that I had been eating. So instead of yelling, I started choking. Auntie rushed over, telling me to drink the orange juice while she gently rubbed my back. Once the coughing had subsided, she asked me what was wrong. _What's wrong? I won't be able to go to Narnia, that's what! And what about Greg?_

"I've only been here a week!" I complained.

"But honey, you've been complaining about the cold ever since you've got here. I thought you would be thrilled."

_That's beside the point… if Narnia let me go in, then they probably need me!_ I yelled mentally. Okay, so I was going a little over my head. But hey, Narnia doesn't just go and pop up at the end of every wardrobe. _Wait… why am I getting so worked up on it? And how would I even know if that really was _the _Narnia? The gopher even said that the other ones were nutty. So what was his excuse? _

"It's just… never mind. I'm going out."

Before my aunt could call me, I slammed the front door shut, stomping into the snow-covered path, but I didn't really have anywhere to go… not for hours at least.


	3. The Bridge

Things might be getting a bit more interesting...

There has been a slight edit in the beginning of Chapter 1. I skipped some information about Elise and was intending to just explain things later, but then I realized that I probably couldn't add it in later.

I do not own Narniaf

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Chapter Three: **The Bridge and Fairytales**

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Instead of staying at the bridge for hours, I decided to go to the bookstore like I had mentioned to my aunt. This way I wouldn't have been lying to her, and not only that, I'd be warm. Once I entered, I greeted Betty, the Bookstore Keeper, and made my way towards the fantasy section. It wasn't exactly the biggest or newest bookstore, but it had class and personality. My aunt had brought me here for the very first time I had ever visited the town, and naturally she had sent me to the children's isle, but as my mind developed, I ventured on to different isles of the store. The only time I had come over here was when my supply of books had been running short, and Auntie would always force me to walk out on my own (after turning thirteen, that is).

"Oh!" I gasped as I nearly ran into someone. The old man chuckled and apologized for startling, but I shook my head and insisted that it was really my fault. He finally agreed to the blame, but simply shrugged it off as he picked up his book. I blinked as I gazed towards the familiar text in the back.

"Narnia?" I asked.

He nodded. "Fascinating book, really. I felt sorry for the old cook in the first book."

I shook my head. "He deserved what he got for trying to use his nephew for his own selfish cause."

He chuckled again. "Well, it's good for you health if you forgive and forget. It's no good if you continue grudging it for the rest of your life. Anyways, I'll be going to pay for this, don't want the air of fascination to disappear."

I stared at him as he passed me, but then I shook his head, remembering my dad telling me that it was rude to stare at people. As he left, I poked my head out of the isle (to make sure I didn't recognize anyone, other than Betty) then dashed towards the romance isle. I had read almost every fantasy book in the row, so I decided to give it a look-see.

Three hours passed and I finally managed to find a title that seemed interesting enough and headed towards the counter. Betty smiled, but a questioning look came across her face once she saw a title. A few years back she had suggested me to head for the romance section, but I said something among the lines of me vomiting in the pages.

"It's for a friend." I said quickly. "She's been nagging me to get it for her."

"All right… that'll be…"

Once I paid her for the book, she placed it into a brown paper bag, wishing me a nice day and then I looked up to the clock. _Crap! I'm late!_ I thought. I immediately snatched the bag out of her hands and slammed the door open, while hoping I hadn't smashed the glass.

* * *

I didn't have any time to run back to Auntie's and stash the book somewhere in a hiding spot, so I kept it in the bag. I tried slowing down once I came close to the bridge, but my feet wouldn't stop moving. Actually, I was sliding (while clutching tightly onto the brown bag). I started screaming as I got closer to the edge of the river, but a hand grabbed onto my arm just before I fell in. I sighed with relief, looking towards no one other than Greg, giving him a weak grin.

"Do you have to fall down every hill you meet?" he whispered.

I blinked, trying to remember a time that I had ever fallen down a hill – and then it hit me like a bullet: Narnia. But I had spent most of the day trying to convince myself that it was only a dream and what had really happened was Greg's story.

He released my arm and I followed him, careful not to slip again. I looked at the group that was with us: only two of them I recognized from being at my Auntie's house, but I hadn't seen any of the others before. It wasn't until now that I had realized how many friends Greg had. He reintroduced me to most of them, but I could only remember a few (mostly because their names had been similar to characters): Lucy, Jill, Mike and Jesse. They immediately remembered me once Greg had mentioned me nearly drowning when we were nine. Jesse spoke up.

"Oh yeah, I remember that. Hey, remember that plump kid that tried to save you?"

I blinked, suddenly visualizing a short, plump boy taking his place. "Oh yeah. Um… thanks for trying." I said, trying to sound grateful. It must have worked, since he flashed a grin, welcoming me. The awkward air seemed to tone down pleasantly, making me feel much more welcome than I had felt earlier. Later on, I found myself walking along side of the river (Jesse insisting that he walked closer to the river, fear of me falling in) and after a long debate of who was going to save whose life, he decided to change the subject.

"So… Greg says you like books."

I looked towards him, slightly suspicious, but tried desperately to not make my voice sound harsh. "He's been talking about me?"

"Oh yeah, loads of times. He kept on betting that he could get you out of the house, but he always lost."

I suddenly felt the urge to slap Greg silly until he cried 'Uncle', then, for some odd reason I started to think about Uncle Andrew in Narnia and how the old man at the book store said to forgive and forget. Remembering what had happened started to make me feel calmer and I slowly forgot my urge of anger. I forced out the only word that to come to mind: "Oh."

The awkward tension began to rise again from the short amount of silence that we've walked. I looked back towards him, realizing that he had been asking more questions about myself than he talk about himself. I guessed that he must have thought his life was pretty boring and not very entertaning to talk about. But I was curious, and the only thing that came to mind was the question he had previously asked me.

"… So are _you_ interested in reading any books?" I asked.

He smiled. "No, but my little sister's been forcing me to read Narnia books. Then said something about cutting off my head if I didn't."

I snorted, picturing a little girl chasing her big brother with a butcher knife, then started to burst out in laughter, and I guessed that it was contagious because he was laughing along with me. I tried cathching my breath, but ended up giggling. We both stopped and he waited patiently as I tried to control myself.

"Sorry. So she likes Alice in Wonderland too?" He sighed and nodded. "Then she must be a Thumbelina fan too…" I guessed.

"Oh God, please don't ever get her started about it…" he begged.

"All right I won't… yet." I grinned after my paused.

"You're evil…" he joked.

"You have no idea."

My head turned as I heard our names being called.

"All right, I've been hogging you enough. Looks like it's Greg's turn."

I looked back towards him. "But he called your name too."

He shrugged. "He does that when he doesn't want to bring attention to himself."

My eyebrow rose and he flashed a grin. "Can't say, sorry. He'll maul me."

Jesse started walking off, while Greg continued to sprint towards me, but what puzzled me was that his hands were cupped as if he had just caught something (like a firefly or a ladybug).

"Greg, what's wrong?"

As he breathed heavily, he opened his eyes slightly, revealing a small, winged creature. My eyes struck horror as I saw it flutter weakly out of his hands (one wing was dented), staring me in the eyes. A fairy.

"Oh thank goodness I've found you! Gopher was right about humans returning to Narnia after all, they were just hidden in a wardrobe!" the fairy giggled.

"Wait, how did you find us?" I asked.

"I saw something that looked like a mirror with your face on it, but it didn't move."

"…A photo?" Greg asked.

"Photo? That's a silly thing to say, but then again, I'm inside a wardrobe so everything's silly!" she announced. Greg sushed her and she kept her tone down.

"What happened to Gopher?" I asked

She hung her head low, dropping back into Greg's hands. "They took him."

"Who?"

She looked up to me. "Why, the snakes did. Who else?"

* * *


End file.
